The present invention relates generally to vehicular seating and, more particularly, to a dual purpose or reversible seating apparatus that permits the vehicle operator to occupy a seat in the vehicle in either of two positions, each facing toward an opposite end of the vehicle.
A variety of multipurpose vehicles are now in commercial use. Among the most popular of such multipurpose vehicles is earth moving equipment having an earth loader operating from one end and a backhoe operating at the other. Because the vehicle cab which houses the operator is relatively small in at least some of these loader/backhoe vehicles, it is advantageous to equip the vehicle with only a single seating apparatus which the operator can easily orient to face toward either end of the vehicle. One prior art apparatus is known which attempts to meet this need by rotating the seat about a horizontal axis; that is, the seat may be “flipped” from a loader orientation to a backhoe orientation. There are, however, disadvantages associated with this prior art device, and the present invention represents an improvement over this known “flip over” arrangement.